For our A2 Music Promotion Package my group has decided to create a music video with a Hip-Hop/Rap genre.
In order to have a better understanding of the codes and conventions of a Hip-Hop/Rap music video I researched two music videos in that genre and one in a different genre in order to have an overall understanding of music videos.
The songs:
1. A$AP ROCKY - Praise The Lord (Da Shine)
2. Brockhampton - JUNKY
3. Beabadoobee - If You Want To
JUNKY (Hip-hop/Rap)
Sources:
‘Typical Rap and Hip Hop videos conform to a relatively materialistic and shallow norm, focusing on things such as money, jewellery, cars and female nudity’.
However, in “JUNKY,” the boy-band raps (and sings) about several inner demons that they face, including homophobia and confronting one’s own sexuality, drug abuse, wasted education, sexism, and suicidal thoughts.''
'Junky is rife with eerie imagery, at least if you find men wielding knives while wearing baby masks eerie. It was also directed by the collective’s frontman Kevin Abstract, who starts the song off with a piercingly personal verse.'
Music Video:
Intro - In the street ( Roberto speaks in Spanish ) - this is meant to link to all of their other music videos from their album as the Roberto introduces all the videos with a sentence in Spanish
The first verse rapped by Kevin Abstract starts is very eerie as the words used ( eg. ‘I spit my heart out’ ; ‘damn temper’; ‘I'm ashamed of being a fuckin' Simpson’ ) are aggressive yet the beat remains consistent, building up to a more erradic beat in which the rapper begins to dance along to the beat - this movement indicates a sort of craziness to the verse.
When Ameer begins rapping the atmosphere of the music video turns dark as the lyrics is consistent to the beat - it is dark.
(eg.
‘I ain't under control, I'm losin' motor function
I need an intervention, I need an exorcism
I need a therapist, paranoia and drug addiction’ )
While Kevin rapped about homophobia and his struggle with coming to terms with his sexuality Ameer raps about his own struggles with drug addiction.
The darkness in lighting ( the use of red and dark blue ) symbolise his paranoia and the darker side of being a drug addict.
Merlyn is considered to be the strange one out of the band and so in his verse he shown being surrounded by cereal - I think this is meant to be another way in order to show the rappers weirdness and craziness. His lyrics are about his wasted education and about how his family pressured and ‘guilt tripped’ him into going to college.
Joba’s verse is about suicidal thoughts and this is shown in the music video through a strange shot in which there are some books covering half of the singer. This along with the dim lighting is meant to show the sadness and confusion of the character as it is an awkward shot. He is then shown in front of a burning house with a devil and an angel on each shoulder. This highly metaphorical depiction of good and bad choices is meant to clearly show the characters confusing thoughts and indecisiveness - maybe regarding whether or not he should kill himself.
Matt’s verse is about sexism - this is not clearly depicted in the music video - however the anger about the subject is felt through the music video as he is again shown in the bedroom - dancing with people in the background. However he only begins dancing when the beat becomes violent as he begins to rap about how women are treated by men.
The music video and the meaning of it differs from stereotypical Hip-hop/Rap music videos. It isn’t about money, fame, sex, instead it focuses on important topics and so the music video differs as well. Instead of portraying jewellery, money, women and so on it is meant to be an interpretive and amplification narrative. The use of strange shots, such as the ones people covered in blood is highly interpretive, used to create confusion for the audience and make the story of the video that more interesting.
Conventions
The music video uses conventions such as Lip-syncing throughout the whole video.
It also uses visual effects in the scene where Joba is seen as being confused in front of a burning house with the angel and devil on his shoulders. Chroma key was most likely used in order to show the burning house.
The pace and shots
The pace and shots of the music video relate to the rhythm of the song. The pace is fast and aggressive, cutting between scenes quickly, creating a state of confusion which relates to the rhythm of song quite well. The shots are meant to represent this aggressiveness as well, with energetic dancing scenes and anxiety driven topic representations (eg. the burning house and angel and devil scene).
Denotation and Connotation
The music videos elements try to connote a feeling of restlessness. The rapping aggressively directly into the camera, the people covered in blood and the coloring are all elements and symbols of the aggressiveness that comes with rapping about such controversial topics.
The audience
The audience targeted with this song and music video is Hip-hop/Rap fans that might also be interested in less traditional rap, the kind that includes important discussions, as this song battles with homophobia, sexism etc. in contrast to sex, money, women and so on. Because of the topics millennials are more likely to like such songs. The demographic would probably be between ages 17-25.
Uses and Gratification
Audiences might seek out Brockhampton's music in order to relate to it. If they have suffered from discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation etc., this song might be a way through which to feel included and understood.
What I would use
I really liked how the music video was presented in a small square on top of a black screen, this along with the filters and lighting give a retro/vintage feeling to it, which I would use in my music video.
Praise the Lord (Da Shine) - Hip-hop/Rap
Sources:
Lyric meaning
A$AP ROCKY discusses in the Genius video about how he collaborated with London MC Skepta in order to produce the song. Him and Skepta produced the song while being high on LSD and so the major meaning of the song could relate to that experience. The song talks about drugs, life, money and even religion. In the video A$AP explains that he grew up in a Christian household and that he has always been a spiritual person and so the lyrics ‘Praise da Lord’ is meant to pay homage to that. He also talks about how each time he has released an album he loses someone close to him ( his grandfather and sister both died after the release of albums ). He talks about this in the song through the verse ‘it rains it pours, it rains it pours’.
Music video
The video ‘uses split-screen approach for minimalist clip’. ‘The stripped-back clip utilizes a split-screen format, opening with A$AP Rocky smoking and hanging out in an apartment. Later, director Dexter Navy ventures to London, employing some wobbly visual effects as Skepta bounces around the city late at night.’
The music video is very messy as it has many clips, some even on top of one another. The video is meant to show 2 sides: New York ( A$AP’s city ) & London ( Skepta’s city ).
The music video compares the two cities regarding drugs, money, flags, streets, men, women, communities, buildings, clothes and so on.
While the music video doesn’t directly relate to the meaning of the song it is meant to play fun at the love that A$AP ROCKY has for both London & his home city Harlem, New York. In an interview with Complex A$AP notes that ‘he has a deep love for London’ and that it’s one of his favorite cities and so the collaboration with a London native most likely inspired the music video to show the 2 sides of his favorite cities.
Conventions
The music video follows some stereotypical conventions of Hip-hop/Rap music videos. It depicts drugs, money & jewelery.
Technical details:
1. The video uses a split screen in some shots - in order to compare NYC & London
2. Visual effects - when rapping the lyrics ‘rain dance’ a stroke of lightning can be seen in the right corner, this is not a coincidence as it appears at the exact moment when the lyrics is rapped and there is no other sign of lightning throughout the rest of the video.
3. The camera is constantly moving around - sometime filming an upside down shot or turning completely 360 style.
4. There is Lip-syncing throughout the video
5. While passing by an open elevator there is a glimpse of people running in the gap of the elevator. This visual effect could have been done using Chroma Key.
6. The narrative seems to be amplification as it has certain moments in the music video in which it is slightly influenced by the lyrics (eg. when Skepta is rapping ‘The snakes, the rats, the cats, the dogs’ and these are all shown on a television while he is rapping this verse), however it generally doesn’t have a direct link to the lyrics.
7. Another special effect is seen when Skepta is rapping and the buildings in the background wobble and jump sort of up and down.
8. There is a filter used throughout the music video in order for it to seem sort of ‘old’/vintage style. This along with another filter which has red flares is meant to make the video seem like it was shot on an old/disposable camera.
Elements
The elements and symbols (flags, money, people) are meant to represent the differences and similarities between New York and London.
Audience
Audiences can include people from London and New York - as both rappers in the song are natives. People who enjoy rap will also be interested. A$AP Rocky has built a name for himself and is considered an 'icon' by many for his music but also for his involvement in the fashion community, he campaigns for Calvin Klein and Dior and even mentions them in his songs, because of this teenagers who enjoy luxuries might be interested in him. As a teenager, I am aware that many people know of him and so the demographic could be between 17-25.
Uses and Gratifications
People that are from London or New York might find the comparison between the 2 cities quite interesting. They can acquire a love and understanding for both cities, as is A$AP's intention, they might also relate to kind of environment that A$AP is used to - drugs, money, community and religion/spirituality.
What I would use
From this music video I would love to be able to use the kind of filter used as it looks 'old' and interesting. The split screen format is also an interesting tool, the comparisons of people is especially interesting.
Beabadoobee - If You Want To (Alternative/Indie Genre)
Lyric Meaning:
The song ‘If You Want To’ is often confused with being a love song as the singer mentions her boyfriend in the lyrics, however in an interview with Genius the singer talks about how it actually a song about her difficulty to sleep and her sleep paralysis. ‘People have the perception that it’s a love song, but it’s not. It’s literally just how I can’t sleep at night. I have trouble going to sleep. I had to do counseling for it. I had to fill in this stupid table. When I slept and how often I woke up every night, in one night. And yeah, it was just because of that. And insomnia’s just crap. And also sleep paralysis is terrifying.’
‘But I guess that’s why I wrote the song. It’s kind of a way of me just trying to forget about it and maybe if I express it enough it will just go away.’
Music Video:
The music video reflects the meaning clearly and so it is Illustrative.
The music video begins with a circle open transition, showing a mother telling a doctor that her daughter can’t sleep ( the daughter being the singer, Beabadoobee ), the doctor then gives the girl a pill and then an animation/illustration can be seen in order to show the girl taking the pill and make the video more playful.
Throughout this the singer is Lip-syncing.
There is then an illustration of a skeleton in order to visualize the scary experience of sleep paralysis as the illustration is shown as the lyrics ‘sleep paralysis too, I die’ is sung.
Afterwords there is a a performance scene in which the singer performs the song along with a few other members playing instruments.
There is also a scene in which she sings along while playing the base on top of a bed. There are multiple hands underneath reaching up towards her, possibly symbolizing the ‘Bed bugs in my mind’.
Then it goes back to her and the doctor. The doctor is showing her images of her, illustrations. There then is a magnifying glass put on top of one of the illustrations and then the singer ‘enters’ the illustrations and continues performing in the format of the drawing.
There is then another animation with a skeleton, now being black instead of red as it was previously and there is a plethora of images shown in fast motion, they are all images about the mind, sleep and the human brain, as the song is about how the singers brain isn’t working properly in order for her to sleep.
Afterwards it cuts back to the performance which is now in a red lighting - a powerful color which is possibly to show the anger and frustration in her brain.
The music video then ends with her looking straight into the camera and then a circle close transition.
Technical Details:
1. Lip-syncing
2. Performance
3. Animation
4. Open circle transition
5. Close circle transition
6. Red lighting
7. Illustrative Narrative
After researching codes and conventions of the Indie Rock Genre I discovered that this music video does have some of the conventions:
1. Live performance
2. Typical Mise-en-Scene, Indie Rock is described as often having a retro and vintage look, this music video has these elements - relating more to the 90s as live rock performance in a bedroom was very common in 90s and early 2000s music videos, such as Avril Lavigne’s 2011 song ‘Smile’.
3. Close-ups are described to be important especially in Indie Rock as they introduce the characters in the music video, as ‘If You Want To’ does at the beginning and end of the video.
Elements
The use of symbols such as red pills and the red lighting are meant to show the frustration that comes with insomnia. All elements, such as when she goes inside the drawing are meant to play fun at the absurd kind of thoughts that one can have when they are sleep deprived.
Audience
Fans of the Indie Rock genre will enjoy this song and music video. As the singer is just 19 years old the demographic is likely to be around her age or younger, around ages 16-21, as she began producing music at around 16-17. Those who enjoy nostalgic kind of music videos, mimicking those from the 90s/early 200s might like this song.
Uses and Gratifications
The audience can acquire an understanding of the struggle of insomnia, and some might even be able to relate to it.
What I would use
I enjoy the live performance in the music video. Lip syncing is also something that I would like to use. However, for my music video I intend to create a Hip-Hop/Rap music video and so many elements differ between this song and Rap.
This was my analysis of three music videos. I thought it was very helpful, especially the rap music videos as I got lots of inspiration for my own project and will consider using some of conventions and techniques.
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